Hoop Skirts and Gunpowder: A Woman of the Fayetteville Arsenal - Museum of the Cape Fear Historical Complex

When the Civil War broke out men were needed on the front lines. But the army also needed ammunition, so the country looked to new workers--women. Hear the story of one woman who worked in the Arsenal. Was the danger worth the freedom it gave her? The presentation will include describing what women did in the arsenals, the jobs women performed in the Civil War, and comparisons between the freedoms and dangers arsenal workers had with the confines of domestic life.

Hoop Skirts and Gunpowder: A Woman of the Fayetteville Arsenal is one-of-a-kind, one-woman show by Lee Ann Rose of Williamsburg, VA. The presentation will include describing what women did in the arsenals, the jobs women performed in the Civil War, and comparisons between the freedoms and dangers arsenal workers had with the continued responsibility of domestic life. Was the danger worth this new experience of working outside the home, which allowed her a little more independence? Hear from one of the women who took to the arsenal’s work and away from her domestic life.